RAT
by myska-na-mrazu
Summary: A sequel to Rowena, starting in January 2012. Although Rowena's continued story is the main theme, other characters will also appear:  Teslen, the children, other Sanctuary people, and, of course, Annabelle.
1. Chapter 1

_The new Sanctuary, January 2012_

Helen didn't like the idea of Nikola Tesla being present but unseen for days on end in her house. God knew what he could be up to, and the current changes in their relationship notwithstanding, she was damned if she trusted him. Circumstances had prevented her from looking into the matter sooner, but eventually she got so suspicious that she made time to inquire.

Interestingly enough, she found him in his newly designated bedroom, something dangerously resembling 90's pop music blasting from the speakers of his laptop at a virtually ear-breaking volume. To speak for Nikola, the perfectly arranged vocal harmonies and the pleasant tune made the song sound better than anything the pop music industry tended to produce recently. On the other hand, it was a love song, for crying out loud. What the devil had possessed the man?

She banged on the door loudly to make him hear her through the racket, but entered without permission. Nikola was sitting at his desk with his feet on top of it, and played with a small device, absent-mindedly flipping it over and over again, while his mind seemed totally engrossed in the melody.

"Helen," he registered her presence immediately.

"A boy band, Nikola? Really?"

"Backstreet Boys, actually," Nikola confessed. "The little brats stole my life and now they're singing about it."

Helen stared at him incredulously for a moment before she realised she wouldn't get the meaning of his sentiment without his help, so she asked:

"What the heck are you talking about?"

Nikola looked up at her properly for the first time since she entered the room, and Helen was shocked that his face was perfectly serious.

"Helen, there's something that I have to tell you. I have no idea how to tell you without making you absolutely furious, so please, just try not to be, because to be honest, it wouldn't have any effect on me anymore. Please, sit down and listen. I know you have enough time, otherwise you wouldn't have showed up – you've left me here long enough. Anyway…" he waved away the words with his hand, and gestured her to sit down. Curious, she did as she was told.

"What's that?" she nodded towards the device in his hand.

"This? This is the end of the story. The Backstreet Boys are the end of the story. She would have loved them, I'm sure. And _she_ is my daughter, Rowena."

"Your…?" Helen gaped at him, unable to reproduce the word.

"Not technically mine, don't worry. Met her on a train in Chicago in 1950, she was eight years old. A very bright child, she was, and had a charming mother. Anyway, twenty minutes later, the train's crashed and her mother lies dead in my arms. So I took the girl in. She was purely amazing, Helen. You could tell her anything – you needed her to do or not to do something, you just told her why – and she nodded and she understood everything. I raised her as best I could, and then I realised I made her completely wrong for the world as it was then. I mean if it was now, she would be an empowered young woman with a bright future, but she turned out to be like you in a way; she wouldn't be owned, she wouldn't settle for ordinary life. She wanted someone to really see her and respect her like she deserved, and the only person who could do that was me. So she… so we bound our lives together, we lived for each other, became everything to each other. I swear I've loved you the whole time, but with Rowena, you stood somewhere in the distance and the not-having-you part didn't hurt quite as much. She was my world, Helen. And then, in 76, she was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Oligodendroglioma, to be more precise. You're a medical doctor, you know what kind of stuff that is. But she refused to let it kill her. You can't imagine what she was like. I broke down several times since the news, but not Rowena. She simply told me to fix it – and believe it or not, I did. We needed time that we didn't have, and she gave me the idea to put her in stasis and work on a way to save her. Luckily, I was able to make her the stasis chamber, and I've spent decades since then trying to either build a tool to remove the tumour completely, or turn her into a vampire. Explains a lot, doesn't it?"

"Which was the point when we met again in Rome and you told me you loved me and asked me to be your queen, was it?" Helen frowned.

"Actually, no. That part was me breaking down again. Pure frustration at failing so spectacularly."

"Ah. That makes it so much better."

"Point is, this is where I've reached my goal. This thing," he shook the device in his hand, "can remove the tumour. I think you will understand my dilemma."

"A) you can't do it without my help, and b) you're risking the wrath of both of us," Helen summed it up.

"Something like that," he nodded. "Look, Helen, I can feel the rage building up inside you, and I can hear it already – of all the selfish, arrogant things you could've done…!" he imitated her, his expression too tired to promise any reaction if Helen was actually planning to explode like that. "Truth is, after I saw you again, I… well, I woke up. I remembered. And I never wanted to lose touch with you again for so long; everything I felt was exactly like it was a century ago. It makes me sick of myself, because for you I almost wanted to let her sleep forever. And you would have never known and her gravestone in Galena, Illinois, would have become exactly that. I'm weak and I screwed up. See, this is the kind of thing she would make me say – even you couldn't disassemble my arrogance like that. I spent twenty-seven years with this woman, Helen. And I've strayed from my task and let her down, but that time, those almost three decades, I'd change nothing about. There's nothing I feel shamed of from back then. You were unattainable until a month ago, I don't have to answer to you for what I did in the 50s through 70s. But I've messed up now and I'm sorry. Just please, could you help me save her and keep the fireworks for later?" he looked at her wearily.

"You selfish, lying, cheating bastard. Even now I can't trust you. You haven't changed one bit," Helen shook her head in disbelief, although she was somewhat struck by the exact opposite. He had changed. He'd never opened up for anyone as much as he clearly had for this woman. It hurt. It hurt like hell. "But you know what?" she decided suddenly. "I will help you save her. I want to see the look on her face when you tell her what you've been up to these past four years. She sounds like someone who could have you for lunch. I won't have to kill you; she will."

"She, for one, wouldn't be jealous of a relationship that happened more than thirty years ago."

"She would if she found out the feelings were still there."

"She knew about you."

Somehow, the sentence stopped the argument for a few seconds.

"I've had your photographs in my house, Helen. She's always known about you. She told me that one day there will come a time when the two of us will be ready to be together; and that was the first night she came to my house. It will break her heart when she finds out the time has come before she's woken up, but there's nothing _you_ have to worry about. I'll always be yours if you want me. You've always had that power over me."

"So has she, I'm sure."

"No. Not like that. She's been my unexpected angel; you've been my destiny."

"She'll be your angel of wrath when she wakes up; never mind me," Helen assumed.


	2. Chapter 2

Nikola licked the blood from his lips. It was about twenty minutes later, and despite what Helen had said earlier about leaving killing him to Rowena, she had a fair go at it herself in the end. A new argument had broken out, which was to be expected, as Helen was slowly recovering from the utter shock of the discovery she hadn't always been the only woman Nikola ever loved, and fury and jealousy she could not control were taking over. It was a bit childish, truth be told, the things they shouted at each other, mostly trying to determine which one of them had kept a greater secret from the other, or committed a worse betrayal to their love. In the end, they both realised there were no winners in this fight, so they stopped and searched for their breaths instead.

"So…" Helen panted, "what was that nonsense about a BSB stealing your life and singing about it?"

Nikola didn't feel like talking about it anymore, realising it might trigger another fight, but in the end he said: "Well, it's mostly that they remind me of how I felt when I put Rowena to the chamber, you know. Like that one that was playing when you came in, 'Trouble Is' – it says 'who's gonna save me when she's gone?' And I felt exactly like that back then; she was keeping me human, keeping me good. And I know I always go on about how rubbish it is being human and how cool vampires are, but the simple truth is, my magnificent people have left me thinking no one non-vampire was worth my time. Win was always there to remind me that I had obligations to the world. Listen to me, it's quite unbelievable, isn't it? I, who always says I'm a superior being, speak of helping the less intellectually gifted, as if they even matter. But Win never allowed me to stop caring. She always turned my work into something practical, always thought of how it could benefit as many people as possible. So much love in her heart, so much responsibility… and I lost it all, Helen. Lost her for thirty-five years, and I've already reverted back into not giving a damn. I guess I just need someone to keep an eye on me at all times," he laughed cheerlessly.

"That was kind of what Annabelle was supposed to do," Helen ventured.

"I haven't exactly been… sociable," Nikola shrugged. He and Annabelle had gradually lost touch over the years and the last time they saw each other was months back.

"Ok, one last question, because I really can't get my head round your choice of music these days: how did you even come across the _Backstreet Boys_?"

"Pure accident. Heard them on the radio seven years ago. Immediately seemed like an omen, of course," he shook his head.

"Right. Well, show me what the gadget does so we can save your 'daughter' then," she prompted him, getting back to the matter at hand.

He did, and she couldn't help being impressed. He had developed nanobots able to isolate and 'eat up' foreign cells, so that they would remove the whole complicated structure of the tumour without the risk of damaging the brain tissue itself. The device Nikola had in his hand was practically the 'command central'. The nanobots would be released into the brain first, sending back scans and information on the cell structure inside, which would then be transferred onto the screen of the device. The person operating the device could then see exactly where the tumour was and instruct the nanobots to target it specifically.

"Of course you can pre-program them," Nikola explained. "But that would require a biopsy, which I didn't want to put Win through again. This takes a bit longer, nevertheless will be far less invasive."

"You _are_ brilliant for a non-medic," Helen couldn't help herself. "How do you come up with these things?"

"Oh, that idea came to me in a flash, to be honest. Saw it on Torchwood."

"_Torchwood_?" Helen repeated incredulously. What the…?

"Yes, they had to cut this alien baby out of a girl before it ripped its way out, and they had this laser scalpel thingy or some such. It isolated the shape and transported it out of her body. I thought of doing the same, but it turns out that creating a teleporting scalpel is much harder than creating nano-cancer-vacuum-cleaners," he explained, waving it off with his hand.

"Is that what you're calling it?" Helen asked carefully.

"Are you kidding me?" Nikola gave her a nasty look. "I don't suck _that much_ at naming things."

"Bet you call it Rowena-saver then. Or… how was it? Win-saver," she provoked him and earned another exasperated look, just like she expected.

"I'm not calling it anything."

"Now that's a new one."

"Shut up."

"Ok," she raised her hands defensively. "I expect we'll have to do some trials before the real operation. Want to get on it right away?"

"Sure," Nikola nodded, a little surprised at her positive attitude.

* * *

><p>They spent three hours in the lab, testing the device. At first, they would do simple things like eat up bread crumbs out of cotton wool, almost having fun with their new toy, but soon realised they would need to test them on something living.<p>

As Helen rarely approved of animal testing, there were no rats at hand in the facility itself; however, after some minutes of pleading ("we're just gonna feed them bits of ham or something and then have the nanobots clean out their guts, so to speak") accompanied by that alluring grin of his she couldn't refuse, she let Nikola venture out into the sewers and catch some.

"Really, Tesla? That's what you eat these days?" Will, who met Nikola on his way back, asked, looking utterly disgusted.

"No, William, that is not what I eat these days. This is what I experiment on these days," Nikola explained, falling for the ruse as he always did.

"Dude, seriously, do you have any idea how long it took us to rid this place of these?" Henry joined in.

"Oh, don't worry, Heinrich, I'll see our guests out after our little soiree tonight," Nikola assured him.

"Does Magnus know about this?" Will inquired.

"Yes," Nikola replied curtly. It got on his nerves that both men were following him to the lab, as if they wanted to make sure he wouldn't do anything without permission. "As it is, we're testing my ingenious new device to remove oligodendrogliomas from the human brain. Of course the larger plan is to save my daughter from a horrible death. You're welcome to watch, gentlemen, but if you're just concerned for the 'safety of this facility', I assure you I have Helen's blessings."

"Did you just say…?" Will looked at Nikola and then at Henry, asking for confirmation. "Daughter, Tesla? _You_ have a daughter…?"

"Dude, is there anyone of The Five who _doesn't_ have a daughter?" Henry wondered, with an excellent point, as Nikola had to admit.

"Probably not," he conceded.

"Who's the mother?"

"Her name was Alice," Nikola informed them, taking pleasure in their shock and not considering for a single moment to tell them the whole truth at once.

"Dude, come on, how old is she? And where is she? And how come you kept her quiet for so long?" curiosity got the better of Henry.

"More importantly, does she take after her father?" Will interjected sarcastically.

"Well, as far as I know, her father died a war hero in 1944, so yes, I guess she takes after him in some ways."

"Wait, what?"

"She's my _foster daughter_, William," Nikola gave up. "And to answer your questions, Henry, she's in stasis, where she has been for the past thirty-five years, so she would have been sixty-nine had things gone normally, but technically she's thirty-four."

"Ok, that's even more interesting. _You_ took in a child?"

"I liked her. She was good at Sudoku," Nikola shrugged it off, not exactly wanting to explain himself to the 'analysing boy'. Luckily, that was the point when they reached the laboratory.

"Helen," Nikola greeted his partner. "I came across these little pests on my way, so I let them tag along for the show. Oh, and here are the rats," he added with an evil wink and lifted the cage full of rodents he was carrying onto a table.

"Funny," Will remarked, while Henry didn't even bother anymore, already used to such quips from Nikola and willing to look past them in favour of the bigger picture.

* * *

><p>The rats were a success. They even found one plagued with cancer, and managed to cure it in a matter of minutes. To say that Henry was impressed to watch Nikola's device in action would be a severe understatement.<p>

"Breaks my heart to save such filthy little vermin," Nikola complained. "But as long as it saves Win…"

"Dude, your daughter's name is Win?" Henry chuckled.

"Her name is Rowena. When kids at school tried to abbreviate it to 'Row', they started the insufferable habit of chanting 'row, row, row your boat' every time she passed by; didn't stop for months."

"Ouch."

"Well, maybe that's the reason the name stayed in the past when they didn't like abbreviations so much," Will suggested.

"Ok, shrink boy," Nikola replied matter-of-factly. "Next time you feel like a disrespectful hint concerning Rowena's mother, I am going to rip your tongue out and feed it to this rat I'm holding."

"Play nice, Nikola," Helen warned him.

"Why, because your protégé is sweetness personified?"

Helen shook her head and decided against further action in this matter. Nikola finished his task of assembling all the rats back in the cage, closing it with care, discarding the latex gloves he was wearing in haste and disinfecting his hands.

"Still gotta take them out, bro," Henry reminded him.

"And so I shall," Nikola assured him. "Wearing a new set of gloves."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again! Ten points to those of you who figure out what RAT means before it's actually explained in the chapter below ;) Oh, and if I may ask something, don't ask me questions in reviews when you don't sign in/ register, because in that case there really is no reply button to hit. Sorry :( Anyway, hope you enjoy this new part of the story, and... reviews, please? **

* * *

><p>"It's really stupid that Annabelle can't come today," Nikola complained as they were making their way towards a helicopter which would then take them to Galena. "She would be really useful if things get bad…"<p>

"Tell me about it," Helen seconded his sentiment, while Will frowned and whispered in Henry's direction: "Who's Annabelle?"

"Long story, bro. Gonna meet her soon enough, though."

Both Henry and Will had refused to miss the opportunity to witness the resurrection of Tesla's daughter. Nikola didn't think it would be a good idea to let Rowena wake up to see so many unknown people at once, while not having one of the most important people she did know there, but in the end gave in with a roll of his eyes.

"Just try to be as inconspicuous as you can, ok? This is going to be very hard for her even without a crowd of curious onlookers."

"Quiet as mice," Henry promised him.

They landed on the roof of Nikola's former home. He still owned the mansion for obvious reasons, but it had been unoccupied for years and all the windows were boarded up. Nikola led them through the darkness down the stairs to the secret room in the basement.

"Dude, this is so cool!" Henry couldn't help himself when he saw the equipment there.

"Hey, no touching," Nikola warned him when Henry approached the stasis chamber, and Henry backed off again with his arms raised. Nikola sat down at the computer controlling the chamber and took a deep breath. "Ok, here goes nothing…"

The mechanism woke up and noise built up, lasting several minutes before calming down, at which point there was a click and they knew the door to the chamber was unlocked. Nikola's knees almost gave way as he opened it, the cold air rushing out past him. It seemed like everyone in the room held their breaths for a few seconds, seeing the pale girl inside.

She was wearing a dark green woolen vest over a white shirt with a sizeable pointed collar and a maxi woolen tartan skirt in white, green and red. Her hair was let down apart from two little plaits running from behind her ears and joining at the back. Her figure was petite and she definitely looked younger than almost thirty-five.

She opened her eyes.

"Nik," she spoke and her face brightened up. "Have you done it?"

"Yes, darling, I have," Nikola nodded and she flew into his arms, hugging him tightly.

"I never doubted you," she whispered in his ear.

"I did," he confessed sadly.

She let go of him. "What year is this?"

"It's actually January 27th, 2012," he informed her, letting her deduce the significance of the date herself, which wasn't that hard. She had spent exactly thirty-five years in the chamber.

"That's amazing," her eyes sparkled. "That is just so cool. You must tell me all about the world today," she urged him, but then she took a better look at the people in the room with them whom she had caught a glimpse of, but only fully registered them now. She didn't know the two men; nevertheless the woman looked very familiar. Then it dawned on her, and it looked like she was just forced to come to grips with three-and-a-half decades of air deficiency. She bent forward, almost fainting. Nikola managed to walk her to a stool and sit her down.

"The things you promised me, Nik," she said quietly. "They're not coming true anymore, are they?"

"I am so sorry, darling…"

"Where's Annabelle?"

"She's coming back tomorrow; don't worry, you'll see her soon."

"Ok," she nodded and then got up with surprising strength. "I'll be in my room," she announced and started making her way to the exit.

"Win, you can't…" Nikola began.

"I don't want to be somewhere where you can watch me as I bleed," she said and went on to where she was headed.

Nikola froze and his face went even paler than it usually was.

"Nikola!" Helen shouted to snap him out of it. "We need to go."

"Yes, Helen, but don't you see what just happened?" he looked at her, still in shock.

"What?" Will interjected instead.

"She's just quoted a song to me that's five years old, that's what happened," Nikola pointed out.

"But you said you never woke her up until now."

"No," Nikola confirmed Helen's statement. "I'll go and talk to her, explain that we need to transport her to the Sanctuary for the operation. Can you give me twenty more minutes? She'll come round, don't worry."

"Something's going on that you're not telling us, isn't it?" Will suspected.

"No offence, huggybear, but you already know all you need to know," Nikola brushed him off and headed upstairs before Will could reply.

Rowena was sitting on the stairs to the first floor, to his surprise. He sat down heavily beside her.

"Sorry for the mess," he said with a sigh.

"You don't live here anymore…" she uttered.

"No," he shook his head. "Haven't lived here for almost fifteen years now."

"Is that when you met her again?"

"Helen? No, no, that was much later. A bit over four years ago."

"And it was the time…?"

"No, that's only been going on for about two months."

She mulled it over in her head, and then asked a seemingly unrelated question: "How long have you been able to save me? And how exactly, anyway?"

"I built this device that will be able to remove the entire tumour from your head. It uses nanotechnology – tiny little robots which will get inside your brain and eat all the cells that are not supposed to be there."

"Nano is really small, right? How did you build them?"

"It was complicated and took me ages, but now it's all done and tested. Even removed cancer from a rat last night successfully."

"You saved a rat?" she smiled in spite of herself.

"I know."

"So how long have you had that device?"

"A couple of weeks."

"I'm just asking, you know, if you were so close to building that thing, couldn't you wait till I was awake again to at least break up with me before…?"

Nikola felt a sharp pang of pain inside.

"It just happened… I didn't mean to hurt you, Win, I swear I didn't."

"You gave up, didn't you? You lost touch with what we had and it faded away; not having it didn't urge you to get it back anymore, am I right?"

He nodded.

"Do I have any money?"

"I kept a fund for you. There's 95 million dollars in it now."

"Wow."

She was silent for a while, pondering the implications. Then she looked up at him and said: "Then I guess we should do this thing and then never see each other again."

"What? No, Win, please, no."

"Nik, you can't have both of us. And if I stayed in touch, I'd only waste energy hating you, and hating Helen, for stealing my life away from me," she shrugged. "I need to move on. And that's easier said than done, believe me. All I want to do now is run away and smash anything and everything in my way. Understanding what happened doesn't mean I'm not mad as hell. I am. You betrayed me, Nik. But you're also going to save my life, so I'll be quiet now and let you do that. What's more, I'll be grateful. But you don't get to have anything else – my love, my friendship, anything."

"I guess that's fair," he nodded sadly, not daring to add that it was breaking his heart. He could expect no sympathy from her. In a way he was surprised that she didn't even scream at him or break her habit of non-violence. Despite her words, she was way too calm. Still, perhaps it could be attributed to all the shock from waking up and finding her world shattered to pieces.

"Win, there's a helicopter on the roof. We need to take you to the Sanctuary for the operation."

"Better equipment there if something goes wrong?" she assumed, and he nodded. "Ok. Let me get a few things. I'll need to shop for new clothes later, I guess, but for now my old ones will have to do. - - - I still have my clothes here, right?"

"Yes."

"Ok," she said, got up and walked up the stairs.

Nikola caught up with her. "Win… what you said to me before you left the stasis room…"

"What about it?"

"It's a piece of lyric of a song released five years ago."

"What? No, it's not. I mean, it can't be, can it? I can't remember songs from five years ago."

"My point exactly."

"What did you do to me?"

"What did _I_ do?"

"Well, I hardly did it to myself, did I? You're the science geek, not me."

"I just froze you," he lifted his arms in defence.

Rowena shook her head and fished for a small travel bag underneath her bed. Without much thinking, she filled it with some clothes and personal hygiene items and zipped it up again in less than ten minutes.

"Nik, you still own the house, right?"

"Yes. Do you want it?"

"It would come in handy to have a place to stay for a while."

"Then it's yours," Nikola assured her. "I'll go get the others. You can already…"

He was interrupted by her scream of pain.

"Win, what is it? Is it the head?" he inquired, alarmed, and quickly moved to her to support her. She nodded, but the sharp pain practically paralysed her. Nikola manoeuvred her to the bed and made her sit down, half holding her in his arms, stroking her hair gently. "It's going to be ok, my darling, it's going to be over soon. You'll feel better again in no time at all."

The others, who had been on their way upstairs anyway, were naturally drawn in by the scream.

"What happened?" asked Helen, kneeling in front of Rowena.

"Headache. They get pretty bad," Nikola answered.

"I've got some painkillers in the chopper. Rowena, can you walk?" she looked up at the younger woman, who nodded wordlessly and got up to prove the meaning in her gesture.

"Guys, can one of you take the bag?" Helen instructed Henry and Will and meanwhile, together with Nikola, made sure they got Rowena safely to the helicopter.

The headache eventually subsided and she began to take in the world again. Then she realised she still had no idea who the two men were and she extended her hand towards them.

"I'm RAT, by the way; sorry for the delay in introductions," she smiled at them pleasantly.

Will accepted her hand first, managing a puzzled: "I'm Will Zimmerman."

"Henry Foss," the other one introduced himself promptly, taking her hand right after the one named Will let go of it. "Did you say RAT?"

"Rowena Attenborough Tesla. I thought it was a pretty cool acronym, don't you? Alternatively, it could be RA – like the Egyptian sun god, or RT like re-tweet," she chatted away cheerfully, until she noticed the helicopter going silent – apart from the sound of the engine, that was.

"What did I say this time?" she asked timidly.

"You used Twitter terminology," Henry half-explained.

"Right," Rowena understood immediately. "I'm not supposed to know about the Internet."

"Win?" Nikola gave her a strict look. "What exactly were you doing for the past thirty-five years?"

"I was in stasis."

"Like hell you were."

"What are you accusing me of, Nik? You put me in there and you took me out of there. Nothing else happened."

"If nothing happened, you wouldn't know things about Twitter and Backstreet Boys."

"I don't know anything about them, I swear. It's just fragments. I can't even remember what the song that I quoted to you was called."

"Has Annabelle ever let you out while she watched over you?"

"No. But now that you mention it, I do remember her coming."

"She was in the computer, Nikola," said Helen from behind the controls. "Like we were the other day, remember? It's the only thing that makes sense."

"Oh," uttered Rowena. "Is that what it was? The comp?"

"You might be experiencing some delayed reaction to your consciousness re-joining your body when we woke you up. But you'll probably start remembering more soon," Helen assumed.

"Looking forward to that, Dr. Magnus. By the way, sorry for not introducing myself to you either, but of course I heard about you all the time from Nik, and I'm sure he's told you about me, so I felt like we already knew each other well."

It wasn't pleasantry, Helen realised, this woman hated her with all her heart and this was a message to convey the feelings.

"Well, in any case, it's nice to meet you at last," she said, determined not to let herself be provoked into something that would make her look like the bad guy.

"Oh, most definitely, Dr. Magnus. I always wondered why Nik didn't get in touch with you earlier. But I guess he had his reasons."

She spoke casually, however, even Will began to sense there was something else going on. What weren't they telling him? The woman seemed to be angry at both Tesla and Magnus for something – what reason did she have? He decided to let it go for now and try talking to Rowena later in private.

Nobody said much afterwards, and a couple of hours later, they landed at the Sanctuary heliport, mysteries unsolved.

* * *

><p>(Btw. that song that Rowena quoted from is called "In Pieces" and is, as mentioned, by BSB. Just in case someone was thinking of legal implications...)<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

They chose to perform the operation under full anaesthesia to make sure it wouldn't inflict unnecessary pain to the patient. She had already suffered a lot.

When she woke up two and a half hours later, everything had been done. She was lying in a rich-looking bedroom and the tumour was gone from her brain. Not that she could tell, but Nikola, who had been waiting at her bedside for her to wake up, informed her of the success of the operation when she asked him.

"So that's it?" Rowena asked. "All the time I waited, and now it's over in two hours and I'm ok, just like that?"

"That's your cross to bear for associating yourself with a genius," Nikola grinned at her.

"Oh, don't worry, Nik, that association is near its end," she assured him.

"Win…"

"Well, what do you expect?" she burst out. "Every single minute I spend here I'm getting more and more tired of playing nice with these people. I want to grab your precious Helen and cut her up with glass shards so that she knows what it's like to bleed as much as my heart has. And you, I want to beat you up in a small pulp and shoot you a million times so you never recover from the damage. I want to stir up your ingenious brain and spill it out into the gutter. I want to burn this place down, I want to destroy the whole world! You've stripped me of everything but my bare life, and bought me out like an inconvenient lover you just don't want in your life anymore. I've always been a cheap replacement for Helen to you, haven't I? I could never be good enough for you…" she ended up in violent sobs.

"You were more than good enough for me," he said quietly. "You meant the world to me, you still do, but in a different way. I want to see you healthy and safe and financially secured, and I wish more than anything that I could stay in touch with you, to check up on you, to be there for you. This thing with Helen… I know I screwed up. Big time. But the damage is done, and there's nothing I can change about it now. Tell me what to do to get your forgiveness one day, I beg you. I know you can't do it right now, but please tell me it will be possible one day."

"Please, leave, Nikola," she asked him barely audibly.

"Win…"

"It's no use. I obviously can't predict future as well as I had believed I could. Just leave me alone, please."

"Ok," he sighed and obeyed her.

* * *

><p>"How's she doing?" Helen asked when he found her in her study.<p>

"She's raging. She might start breaking things. Insists on never seeing me again. Helen, I don't know what I'll do if I lose her for good."

"You might have to make do with me," she shrugged.

"Would you stop this already? Both of you, really. I've just saved Rowena's life, I constantly help you save the world, yet it amounts to nothing at all in your eyes. I guess it really is true that nothing good ever matters if you make one mistake," Nikola finally snapped. "I've said sorry these past two days more times than the rest of my life put together, I've tried to make it right, or at least as right as it can be under the circumstances. I'm supposed to be the almighty arrogant bastard here, while in reality I'm practically crawling at both of your feet. Doesn't that mean anything? Seriously?"

"Would you relax already?" Helen shook her head, wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. Her fingers felt his cheeks moisten, and her lips left his to kiss away the tears from his face. "It's ok, my love," she whispered soothingly. "It's ok. And don't worry about Win. She'll get out there and find that there are other amazing people in the world. People have changed, in their attitude to women, I mean. At least a bit."

"I suppose that's true…"

"She'll be fine."

"Will we?"

"We are," she nodded, never ceasing to kiss him in between the words.

* * *

><p>Rowena got out of bed and changed into striped blue bell-bottom trousers, a matching vest and a white turtleneck. She was starving, but also damned if she left the room not dressed properly and with her hair brushed. While battling with her unruly locks, she made a mental note to get rid of half their length the first chance she got.<p>

Finally, she was ready, so she tossed the hair-brush onto the bed and set off into the unknown. The unknown, it turned out, was filled with Dr. Zimmerman, and she almost bumped into him as she was exiting the bedroom.

"Oh, Dr. Zimmerman," she smiled by way of apology. "I was just on my way to find Nik. We had a bit of an argument, and now I need to make amends so that he shows me where to get something to eat," she winked at him conspiringly.

"Please, there's no need to apologise to Tesla; I'm sure it was his fault," Will remarked before he realised whom he was talking to.

"You don't seem to like him very much," Rowena observed calmly.

"The feeling is mutual, trust me."

"Well, as much as he has grieved me lately, Dr Zimmerman, let me just warn you that if I ever see you argue, I'll take his side," she winked at him again. It wasn't a threat, not even a friendly warning; it was just one of Rowena's matter-of-fact statements that baffled people.

"Even if he's wrong?"

"Factually or morally?"

"Let's say morally, for argument's sake."

"Ok. I know he's sometimes got different views on what's good and bad in normal people's eyes, but essentially, he's a good person."

"Tesla? A good person?" That almost amused Will.

"Why don't you think so?"

"Well, take the way he met Magnus four years ago. He tried to kill her. Or more precisely, he tried to turn her into a vampire and make her his queen."

"Wait, he knows how to turn people into vampires now?"

"Not really. The first ones he made were just dumb killing machines. Then he tried turning drug addicted kids and that got out of hand, too. Point is, you never really know where he's taking you next. Always has a hidden agenda."

"He also saved my life a number of times. He tried to save my mother when she was killed in a train accident. He'd met us twenty minutes earlier, but he did everything in his power. First thing he did when he made sure I wasn't badly injured, he ran out and called Annabelle. But not even Annabelle could resurrect my mum. Still, they tried. And he took me in after that. He had no responsibility towards me, and he still did it. I got a comfortable home, great education, I travelled the world…

And, if you think about it: he's a vampire, but he doesn't harm people. If he was evil, don't you think he would have just chucked that rule out of the window? He wouldn't care. And I think you must have heard him utter remarks on how idiotic and unworthy the human race is, but he still lets them live. That must mean something, no?"

"Well, he definitely seems to have raised you a good person, so that's one thing that speaks in his favour," Will shrugged. "But can I ask you something?"

"Shoot," she offered, ignoring his compliment. People tended to have a different idea of what it means to be a good person than she did, and she frankly didn't care much for it.

"There's something more going on here, isn't it? I mean you're terribly upset with Tesla for some reason. You said he promised you something, and now it's not coming true. What was that about?"

"Do you think you need to know that, Dr. Zimmerman?"

"You know, I am a psychiatrist; it might help if you share what's troubling you with me."

"Now that's convenient, isn't it?" she laughed.

"What is?"

"Being able to hide your nosiness behind your job."

"That is… so not what I'm doing," Will protested. "I'm offering to help you."

"Please, Dr. Zimmerman, don't bother. I've suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor's guilt since I was a little child. Do you think I know nothing about shrinks? They tend to make people comfortable and let them choose what they want to share. They don't inquire, they piece together. And when they ask, it's usually about feelings. You're not asking me for me, you're asking because you want to know what's going on, that's the simple truth of it. And I'm not telling you anything for three reasons: I'm offended by your trying to mask your curiosity as concern for my well-being; I really don't want to talk about it right now, and it's simply none of your business. Now, either tell me where I can find my foster father, or leave me alone, please."

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude, I just get like this when there's something that doesn't add up – I want to make heads and tails of it. But I mean it about the help. You're awfully angry at the only person you know in this facility; that must be very difficult for you. Not to mention adjusting to the new age, which will come later. I'm just saying if you need a friend, I'm here for you."

"I'll think about it," she said, practically certain in her mind that she wouldn't.

"I think Tesla went to Magnus's study. I can take you there, but if you want to eat something first, I'll take you to the kitchen," Will offered.

"Thank you," she smiled eventually.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the long absence and the short chapter I've produced meanwhile O:) Anyway, I'm having a bit of a block so this might get regular. Unless you surprise me with many reviews: then I might reconsider ;)  
>(And yay, Annabelle's back!)<strong>

* * *

><p>By the time Rowena finished her meal, the urge to go talk to Nikola had gone again. She had meant to ask him about practical things: about her account details and her papers, but even this reason didn't help. She hoped Annabelle would be able to clear these things up for her when she arrived.<p>

It took another two hours after Rowena had come back to her assigned bedroom, nevertheless, at five in the afternoon, there came the knock – and it was the knock Rowena had wished for with all her heart.

"Annabelle!" she yelled excitedly and threw herself into her friend's arms.

"Winny, my dearest! You look great! I'm so happy to see you! Are you ok?" Annabelle showered her with proofs of affection. She had really missed "her little girl", as she still liked to call Rowena despite the latter's having grown up.

"I feel fine," Rowena nodded and pulled her friend inside the room. "The tumour's gone."

"That's so wonderful, Win. I'm really glad it worked."

"Yeah, me too. This is apparently an amazing age, so I'm all excited to get to know it properly. Oh, and get this: seems my mind was naughty and it ran away into the controlling computer before Nik froze me."

"It did what now?" Annabelle's eyes widened in surprise.

"Honestly, I was probably in the computer because I know stuff. I remember things that happened after I was put in the chamber. Well, they're just flashes, mostly, or that persistent feeling of déjà-vu I get whenever I search the net and read something… Like the Cold War is over and most of the former Eastern Bloc countries are now free – and I know that, like a distant memory, you know, like I'd been there when it happened and I simply remember."

"What does Nik say about this?" Annabelle wondered.

"Apparently, he and Helen have had a similar experience recently, so he wasn't quite as impressed as I thought he might be. I think they did some tests on my brain while they had me on the operation table, but he didn't mention anything afterwards, so I guess I'm fine," Rowena shrugged.

"How are you taking it?" Annabelle asked, and by her tone her friend knew exactly what she meant.

"Honestly? I'm boiling up like a volcano inside. And I hate that I can't even complain because I always knew this might happen. I just, you know, never expected it to happen during my lifetime. I thought we'd just… well, at least I would simply grow old with him and…"

"I'm sorry, Win. Hey, but if it means anything, I'll be here for you, darling. You can come stay with me in New York when they've released you from here. And I'll show you everything you need to know about 2012," Annabelle offered.

"You are simply amazing," Rowena stated and hugged her again. "I would love that."

"Anyway, as for now, what would you say to chocolate ice-cream and The Big Bang Theory marathon?"

"Yay to the chocolate ice-cream, not sure what you mean by the other thing."

"It's a TV series. You'll love it, trust me."

"Comedy?"

"It's a sit-com, actually. That means…"

"I know," Rowena nodded. "Sorry, sometimes it just comes to me. It's kinda awesome not to know what I know in a way."

"Ok, I'll dash into the kitchen to get the necessary stuff and you, sweetness, just stay here and make yourself comfortable. We'll have the best of times together, I promise you," Annabelle winked at her and vanished behind the door.

She came back about twenty minutes later, carrying a tray with three bowls, spoons, a plastic box of double chocolate ice-cream and Henry on her tail.

"Hey, you know Henry, right? He's gonna set up a bigger screen for us – and if you don't mind, he'd love to join us," she announced to Rowena.

Win looked up at the young man's friendly face, and since all impressions of encounters with him, albeit not too numerous, were positive, she nodded readily.

"Sure," she said.

Together with Annabelle, she then settled on a patch of carpeted floor to divide the ice-cream into the glass bowls, while Henry worked on connecting Annabelle's laptop to a large screen opposite the bed.

"So, you were more like Nikola's wife than daughter in the end, weren't you?" he threw in casually, not taking his eyes off the cables.

"How do you know?"

"Kinda hard to miss," he pointed out. "You looked incredibly heartbroken when you saw the Doc back at the old stasis chamber."

"Ok, so how come your famed psychiatrist hasn't picked up on it?" she wondered.

"Oh, he just can't picture Tesla being in a relationship like that. You know, being intimate with a girl. He's actually having a hard time believing him and the Doc are actually together."

"Yeah, that makes two of us," Rowena sighed, and then added: "Sorry, I know you care a lot about Dr. Magnus. She's not really my enemy, I just… It wasn't supposed to happen yet."

"What do you mean?" Henry looked at her rather intently.

"I always knew about her. Nik had her photos in his bedroom – until we got together, that is. He would tell me wild tales about their travels and adventures; and I would tell him that one day the world will be ready for the two of them together. I knew what we had couldn't possibly last forever. Just a lifetime. We loved each other enough for that. Before he put me in stasis, he promised me that when I woke up, the world would be a beautiful, technologically advanced place and that he would show it to me, teach me all about it; and that I'd live long into my nineties and we'd pretend I'm his great-grandmother and we'd laugh about it. Next thing I know I wake up and see her standing next to him, just as beautiful as in those old photos. I'm no match for her," Rowena explained and then smiled. "Still, that's crying over melted ice-cream. Speaking of which…"

She held out a hand with a bowl towards him, and since he was finished with the setup, he accepted the ice-cream and the three of them settled down in front of the bed. Annabelle switched on the pilot episode of The Big Bang Theory and the fun began.


	6. Chapter 6

Rowena had to stay at the Sanctuary for another four days before her papers were ready and Nikola finally relented and released her, while pleading with her to come back if she needed anything or she got worse.

"Annabelle will look after me," she responded to that. All she wanted was to get out of there to start her new life. Sitting in transition had always been unnerving to her, and this was even worse since she was stuck in a past she wanted desperately to put behind her.

"All the same, you can always turn to me; I want you to know that," he insisted.

"Yeah, cause it worked out so well last time," she wanted to say, but this was, hopefully, a goodbye forever, and it wasn't worth it creating even more blood. She was on her way to freedom.

She glanced at her driver's licence again – it said Rowena Attenborough Tesla, born 11th May 1977. According to this, she was supposed to have lived through the very time she was all but lifeless. It was somewhat comical, in a way. But she had to admit, having her real date of birth there would get awkward. She put the document back to her purse, which also hosted a credit card for her 95 million dollar bank account and a passport. It sickened her a bit to accept this fortune, however, she and Annabelle had already started hatching a plan to return the initial sum to Nikola – as soon as a series of clever investments yielded enough profit to enable her to continue in her former lifestyle, while being free of this debt. After all, freedom was all she wanted now, and wealth would enable her to do virtually anything: run around the world, study, if she wished, take patronage over some charitable project, build a school in Africa, or whatever else she could think of.

The first thing the two women did once they got in New York, though, was Annabelle taking her new apartment-mate shopping for contemporary clothes. They didn't exactly hit top designers, yet still managed to throw a few thousand dollars.

"That's ok, isn't it?" Win looked at Annabelle worriedly when they both conceded they had had enough of shopping for the day and decided to make their way home. "I mean, it's pretty much a whole wardrobe."

"Exactly. Don't worry, still enough to both invest and throw around," Annabelle winked at her with a devilish smile.

"You're going to spoil me."

"Oh. My. God," Annabelle stopped dead in her tracks suddenly, staring at a big poster adorning a façade of a theatre they were just passing on their way to the nearest subway station.

"William Hart's Dancing Theatre?" Rowena read, adding the question mark to the sentence to point out she had no idea who the mentioned William Hart or his Dancing Theatre were. By the spelling, she guessed some hosting company from the UK, but that was just about all she could make out of the poster.

"Liam Hart is the most incredible dancer ever. Something between Patrick Swayze and Michael Flatley. Patrick Swayze you know and Flatley has his own Celtic Dance Shows. But Liam's simply the best. Please, please, please, let's go!" Annabelle begged, acting a bit like the 18-year-old she appeared to be, but flooded with excitement and hormones on top of that.

"Ok," Rowena laughed. "Get us tickets and I'll tag along."

"Oh, Win, you're gonna love this guy," Annabelle predicted. "He's smart, sexy, very talented…"

"I believe you."

Annabelle grew even happier that afternoon, because one of her friends had booked an entire box in the theatre, while his date had stood him up, so he had more than enough empty seats to offer.

"His name is Daniel Petrucci," Annabelle explained to Rowena. "He used to be in a boy band, now he's gone solo. He's good looking, very smart and funny."

"Have you slept with him?" Rowena asked directly. Annabelle didn't do relationships, because losing loved ones all the time sucked and the always looking eighteen part was obviously tricky. So she did occasional one-night stands and learned to make do with it. But sometimes she would get too lonely and in need of a good friend, and during one of those moments she had confided to Rowena.

"No," Annabelle shook her head. "He's sort of married."

"Sort of?"

"To another man."

"Oh."

Nikola and Annabelle had had the homosexual talk with her when she was eight; right after Nikola's ingenious socket-plug analogy. They had decided that if she already knew this much, she deserved to know all of it. Before that, Win had had no idea such thing as homosexuality existed – and after, she just accepted gays for what they were: people like everyone else.

She had once told Nikola she felt out of phase with her timeline, and now she was beginning to realise this might just be the age she had really been raised for.

Daniel Petrucci was turning forty that year, but he didn't look a day over thirty. His semi-long dirty blonde curls were stylishly messy and his milky blue eyes radiated the same kind of amiable smile as his full lips when he met Annabelle and Rowena at his box.

"Hi, I'm RAT," Rowena offered him a hand, deciding to make this her traditional introduction.

"Hello, Rowena," Daniel smiled back and accepted the handshake. "Annabelle's been telling me a lot about you over the years we've known each other. She really missed you."

"Missed me?" Win gave both of them a confused look.

"Oh, I know everything," Daniel explained. "Some of it was tough to believe at first, but hey, things between heaven and earth…"

"So you know I'm thirty years older than you, do you?"

"But you wear it so well," he winked at her.

"Why, thank you, kind sir," she smiled and let him show her to her seat.

During the remaining minutes to the performance, while Annabelle excused herself, Rowena got Daniel's account of William Hart's Dancing Theatre. But she learned nothing new; Daniel's regard for Liam Hart's work was as high as Annabelle's.

Five minutes into the performance, she joined their chorus of praise. Liam Hart was simply stunning. A closer look at him through Annabelle's theatre binoculars revealed an overwhelming aura of sex-appeal around him, only supported by his light and precise movements interchanging with singing interludes. His voice was deep, with the faintest hint of hoarse, and although it could mislead one into thinking it wasn't much by not hitting each note perfectly, it always got there in the end and re-established its "very good" status quo.

Rowena could see how Annabelle would be smitten by this man. He was all hot and enigmatic and showed great talent. But Win herself wasn't in a place yet where she could get into a similar crush, although she immediately respected Liam Hart as a professional. She didn't share this with her companions, but all the time she was sitting there, she was actually picturing Nikola in his place, remembering how he had taught her to dance. They had started out when she was twelve and finished about half a year later, when Nikola was finally sure she had grasped all the dances he had wanted her to master. She was also remembering how they had danced together at the Winter Formal; the evening he had later confessed to her to be when he had realized he was in love with her.

By the end of the show, all she wanted to do was get out of the theatre and be alone.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, readers, sorry for the delay, I've been extremely busy the past two months! Anyway, this chapter is a bit weird, but Win is just a human being, after all, isn't she? I guess I'll have to up the rating a bit, though. As usual, reviews welcome!**

* * *

><p>When a Skymark Boeing touched down at Kobe Airport a few weeks later, it carried an American tourist named Victoria Lewis. There was still striking resemblance between this woman and the one who had occupied this body previously, but the paperwork and money trails had been covered perfectly.<p>

Victoria Lewis, aka RAT, loved Skymark. After all the hassle she had to go through at Haneda, taking a domestic flight to Kobe was pure heaven. No one even checked who she was; all she needed to do was insert the same credit card she had used to purchase the ticket in a machine at the airport, and check in her suitcase.

She had no idea what brought her to the Kansai region. After Liam Hart's performance, she had told Annabelle she wanted to disappear for a while. She wanted no one (except her friend) to know where she was; she wanted to travel, see the new world and figure out where and how to start her new independent life. She wasn't sure Nikola would actually look for her, but she knew he'd check up on her in secret from time to time. If he found out she was gone, he would definitely want to know where she had run off to. And it was none of his business. Thus, Victoria was born, and came over to Japan.

The airport in Kobe was little, very friendly, sat on a tiny island not too far from the coast, and one could get from there to the Sannomiya train station by an overground railway. Victoria couldn't help but feel happy as she watched the sun setting on the city she was approaching. The travelling hadn't been much fun, so it was only once she was firmly on the ground that she could finally appreciate her new status: reborn.

Kobe was full of entertainment those days, which she had found out on the internet earlier, so she had decided to stay over and do some shopping in the vibrant market streets. The present state of the city just blew her mind: it was nothing like she remembered. It was modern and alive and Vicky loved every minute of being there.

Against her initial decision to keep a low profile, she checked into the Meriken Park Oriental Hotel: a superb fashionable building sitting over the harbour entertainment area, with tastefully decorated rooms and splendid views. Entering one of suites, she made herself a promise to only use hostels from now on, but she had no regrets about this and every intention to enjoy every minute of her stay.

She washed off all the travelling from her body in the shower, and then took a long bath, savouring the rosemary-based fragrance of the toiletries. Afterwards, she put on a knee-long golden beige dress, got herself to a drop-dead-gorgeous state and took a taxi to Sannomiya to find a dance club. Not that she preferred the current writhing and jumping to the classics Nikola had taught her, but that night, she wanted to embrace wilderness. She wanted to bring someone back to the hotel and have passionate sex with them. She didn't care about anything – no bad conscience anymore. This was the age of freedom and it was all that she had anyway.

* * *

><p>He was an Irish musician named Brian Kelly, a few years younger than her, with a head covered in thick dark curls and gorgeous blue eyes. They danced together, then had a drink and talked, found each other attractive and ended up in Brian's hotel room, since it was closer to the club where they met.<p>

It was exhilarating in a way at first, but although Vicky had meant to go wild, she wasn't prepared for the things Brian wanted to do to her – stuff that wasn't necessarily new to her, but which she always associated with porn. And as extreme as this new age seemed to be in sexual matters, there was no way she was going to let porn into her bedroom.

"Stop doing that!" she yelled out a bit more loudly than she had intended to, and forced his hand out of her crotch.

"Why, what's wrong?" he wondered, absolutely puzzled.

"Is this what people really do these days?" she asked.

"Um… yeah…"

"Well, I don't want to do it."

"But darling, these things are meant to make you feel good," he pointed out.

"No," she shook her head. "It's nothing but repulsive."

"When do you come from, the dark ages?" he wondered.

"Yeah, I guess I do," she agreed, gathered her things and made to leave. "Nice meeting you, Brian," she added sarcastically in the doorway before she disappeared into the corridor, leaving him speechless inside. It wasn't really his fault, but it made her mad anyway. If everyone was doing such things these days, how could she sleep with anyone? Or should she get used to it, however unpleasant and even painful it felt?

* * *

><p>When she got back to her hotel, she checked what time it was in New York, found out it was actually the best time to call, and Skyped Annabelle.<p>

"Win!" he friend greeted her. "How are you? Is everything all right? It must be the middle of the night where you are."

"Annabelle… is it really normal these days for guys to stick their fingers into you before you have sex?" Vicky spilled out before she could change her mind.

She heard her friend clear her throat loudly and in a strained voice, Annabelle said: "Sweetie, Nik's here with me…"

Vicky felt heat gushing through her body. Oh, shoot, she thought. Not good. Not good at all.

"So that's what you're doing, is it?" she heard his voice over the net. "A rebound spree?"

Attack is the best defence, right?

"Spare me, Nikola," she retorted coldly. "I don't belong to you anymore."

"No, of course not. You're busy giving yourself away to strangers."

"How dare you talk to me like I'm some kind of a slut?" she exploded.

"You're on a good way to become one, Rowena," he cut her down mercilessly.

"All right, that's enough!" Annabelle interfered in the argument.

"Yes, it is," Win agreed. "I'm done with you, Nikola. I'll never speak to you again. Annabelle, I'll call you later, ok?"

With that, she ended the call and shut down Skype so neither of them could call her back.

* * *

><p>"Nice one, Nik," said Annabelle.<p>

"You're taking her side?"

"I'm always taking her side, in case you haven't noticed. She's lost; can't you see that?"

"Well, she didn't have to run away from us," Nikola shrugged.

"You're kidding, right?"

He opened his mouth and closed it again.

"She's in a new age that she can't quite remember, and you're with another woman. I'm all she's got now, but I remind her of the life she can't go back to anymore, so she's run away. All she wanted was to be held again."

"Yes, Annabelle, but she shouldn't just pick up guys like that. It's dangerous."

"And she's almost thirty-five, Nik. I think she's proven many times that she can take care of herself."

"Isn't that contradictory to what you've been saying about her being lost and needing guidance?"

"Given the circumstances, there's nothing we can do."

"When she starts reeling, it will be too late."

"Nik…"

"She's my daughter, Annabelle. And the closest to a wife I've ever had. I know it sounds sick and twisted when I say it like that, but I love her, Bells. I can't sit here doing nothing when she might be ruining her life out there."

"I know how you feel, Nik, I really do. But you can't… you just have to let go. Trust her to do the right thing."

"Where is she?"

"Nik, don't…"

"I just want to know where she is."

"Yes, to jump on the first plane and check on her. Just leave it."

"Where is she, Bells?"

"I'm sorry. Honestly. I made a promise."

"Ok," he raised his palms as a sign of giving up. "Ok. You said it was the middle of the night where she was. In that case, there's just one place on the Earth where she can be."


	8. Chapter 8

When Vicky's plane touched down at Nagasaki airport, the sun had already set. Vicky had taken dozens of pictures of the sunset, and everything else, since the visibility was close to perfect, through the plane windows. The airport was small and no one checked her identity here either. She just collected her suitcase and got on a bus to the town centre.

She was determined to keep a low profile this time, and so she had booked a bed at a small hostel not far from the train station; but because it was after dark and the bus didn't stop directly at the train station, she lost sense of direction soon. In the end she gave up, and decided to take a taxi, even though the hostel was within walking distance. There were, however, about five roads forking in all directions from the station, and the suitcase was just too damn heavy to try all of them.

She was stopped by a porter, though, and directed to the information office, which was, quite amazingly, open even this late in the evening. She got a map from the nice lady at the counter and about ten minutes later, utterly frozen from the drizzle and the strong wind and exhausted, she found herself at the Casa Noda hostel.

The owner, Shinji, spoke excellent English and was very friendly. He said there was only one other guest beside her at the hostel (the cold weather being unfavourable for the business), for which he apologised, obviously mistaking her for someone who loved company. Vicky was glad the hostel was almost empty. She'd have time and space to think about things.

She was shown to the female dorm and chose the bottom bed on a bunk near the huge window to the street. Shinji said he had to leave for some time, but that he'd be back later that night. She let him go, only to regret it half an hour later when she realised how cold the room actually was. The windows were draughty and the heating clearly wasn't on. Vicky got up and found the thermometer next to the door. It was switched off.

"Nice," she said quietly through her teeth and set off downstairs to the common room to see whether Shinji had returned yet. No sign of him, but at least the common room was nice and warm. There was a hammock hanging in the middle of the room, which had been mightily praised by previous visitors, whose reviews Vicky had read before booking her stay here. She climbed into it and soon fell asleep, lulled by the pleasant warmth and her own tiredness.

A closing door woke her up at one a.m. It took a minute for her to realise where she was, but then she lifted her head to meet the glance of a tall white man with glasses, a smooth face and prematurely greying hair.

"Hey," she greeted him. "I was waiting for Shinji, he said he might be back tonight, but I guess he wasn't. You must be the other guest," she smiled and offered him her hand.

"Hello," the man replied. "I guess I must be."

His English was almost perfect, but there was a hint of another accent in it. She later found out he was French Canadian.

"I'm Vicky," she introduced herself.

"Martin," he gave her his name in return. "Do you want some tea?"

"I'd love some tea!" Vicky realised gratefully, and he went to the kitchenette in the corner to make them two cups.

"I don't want to go upstairs. Have you been there just now? It's freezing as hell up there!" she continued the conversation.

"Yeah, a lot of people have complained about it. I've been here for a week and people said they were cold for all that time. But the heating's not switched on. Even Shinji can't switch it on. He's got a guy who comes over to switch it on for him," Martin informed her.

Vicky swallowed, feeling a lump in her throat already forming, and thought about the implications of what she just heard.

She and Martin had a cup of tea together, and then another one, until it was almost half past three, and they spent all that time talking. Neither of them really wanted to go upstairs. Vicky had at one point suggested they gather all the blankets they got from Shinji, put them on one bed and slip under them naked for better heat transfer, and was shocked to realise she was only half joking. Even imagining spending the night under the thin blankets in a room where there is possibly less than ten degrees centigrade was too much to endure.

"How about we go have a hot shower?" he said finally after half past three, and she nodded without much thought.

"Ok. Yours or mine?"

"Let's try which room is warmer."

It was the female dorm which won the competition in the end. They met in the en-suite shower, where Martin had been cultivating steamy air while she had brushed her teeth in the adjacent washroom – by far the coldest part of the dorm.

Martin grabbed her when she entered the shower room and she slipped into his arms, relishing the heat from the water and his body. She wasn't looking for another tryst, but when he kissed her urgently, she returned the kiss, pressing her lean body into his. But that was it. It was just about the heat, nothing else. They were enjoying the hot capsule they had enclosed themselves in and the touching, the nudity did not matter at all; it was just a natural part of it.

They stayed in the shower for a very long time, and only reluctantly left it to find cold refuge beneath three blankets on Vicky's single bed.

The microclimate in the room didn't improve during the night, and when Vicky woke up around ten, she could feel the lump in her throat even more distinctly than a few hours ago and her body generally protesting against being treated so cruelly.

"Let's go somewhere else," suggested Martin. "Let's just check out and leave."

"I can't," she shook her head. "I've already paid for three nights."

"Get a refund, then," Martin prompted her.

"I don't know," she gave him the look shy people have in their eyes when they're not sure of something. "Shinji's been so nice to me; I can't just go to him and ask him for my money back… Besides, I don't have money to go somewhere else," she made up an excuse.

"Don't worry about the money. And I can negotiate the refund for you if you like," Martin offered.

"I'll have to think about it," Vicky shrugged.

With that, they left for breakfast. Vicky quickly changed her mind when she was prompted to go to the toilet afterwards. It was freezing in there, perhaps even more than outside, and Vicky decided she would not subject her ailing body to another night like this. She went downstairs to the common room, where Martin was already searching for a new hotel on the computer.

A few hours later, they booked in a 3-star further down the road and found their room on the tenth floor, with a spectacular view of the harbour and the hills opposite. The room was small, but very comfortable. Vicky felt great for the pleasant change, but also bad because she had let Martin pay for the luxury on false pretences. Still, there was time to deal with that later. Right now she would enjoy the warmth of the bed while Martin went back to the hostel to get the rest of their things and talk to Shinji.

He returned about an hour later and they set off for a walk. More than anything, Vicky wanted to go to the Glover Garden - the place she had known as a hilltop of withering ruins of European mansions – to see what it looked like now that it has become one of the main tourist attractions in Nagasaki. Unfortunately, it was already too late for that, so they only covered a few minor museums and ended up in a friendly café near China Town, drinking delicious coffee and devouring possibly the best tuna sandwiches Vicky had ever tasted.

They got to the Glover Garden the following afternoon and Vicky immediately fell in love with the place. It made her happy. The view from the hilltop was stunning and the faded glamour of the villas reminded her of her home in the old Marine Hospital in Galena.

"You're beautiful when you're smiling like that," Martin observed. "You look like you're inside a dream."

"Thank you," she appreciated the praise. "It's just that this place is so much like my home."

But as soon as she uttered the words, pain appeared in her eyes and her smile, though not completely faded, saddened.

"Where is home?"

"Now? I don't know," she shrugged. "That place I was talking about… where I grew up…" Somehow she couldn't bring herself to speak anymore.

"It's ok. I won't ask anymore," he promised her.

One of the buildings was converted into a café, and they decided to take a break from their exploration there. The big room inside looked like a scene from a 19th century café in Vienna – it had a certain Empire style ring to it, while set high above the harbour and among the steep slopes of the impressive Japanese scenery. It was exactly like a dream, Vicky thought, and it occurred to her that she had just entered Nikola Tesla's times.

The café was almost empty, and so they had a variety of tables to choose from. They sat at one with a view of the harbour and the white bridge towering over the narrow gap between the two tall banks.

"Good afternoon, dear guests. Would you mind if I join you?" a voice suddenly sounded from inside the room, making them tear their eyes from the spectacular view outside. Vicky's eyes widened in horror and a heat current flashed through her body.

"Hello, Rowena," Nikola Tesla smiled at her while pulling up a chair and sitting down at their table. "Who's your friend?"

"Rowena?" Martin repeated.

"Oh, sorry. You probably know her as Victoria, is that right, Win?"

"What part of 'I'll never speak to you again' didn't you understand?" Vicky finally found words.

"The part where you just did…?" Nikola suggested.

Vicky rolled her eyes and turned to Martin. "Martin, this is Nik. We… have a very complicated relationship that you don't need to concern yourself with, because he'll be kind enough to leave right now."

"Now, now, is that any way to treat your father?" Nikola entered his annoying mode.

"My father is dead."

"I knew you'd say that. Anyway, my dear, I will leave, as you asked me. But if you changed your mind and did want to talk, this," he took out a card and gave it to her, "is where you'll find me. It was nice to meet you, son," he winked at Martin and left before the poor confused man had a chance to react.

He didn't get it for a while, since the waitress chose that very moment to come and take their orders. After they did, Martin gave Vicky a strict expectant look and said: "What was all that about?"

"Ok. My real name is Rowena. But I don't use it anymore. Nik is essentially much older than he looks and he took me in when my mum died. My dad died when I was two, then my mum was killed in a train accident when I was eight. Nik took care of me, but now we're not on speaking terms, because he did terrible things to me, and he said some nasty stuff about me. That's about the extent of it," she gave him an abridged version of her life story.

"You're just… you must be the most insane person I've ever met," Martin shook his head.

"Is that a problem?"

"I don't know. I mean we just started talking and then everything happened and now we're here and I still can't wrap my head around it."

"It was cold," she shrugged. "And I liked you. Or do you want me to pack my bags and go?"

"No, I never said that."

"Ok, then. Enjoy your dessert," she smiled.


	9. Chapter 9

Martin woke up in a very bad mood the following day. He could not sleep on account of a very noisy baby next door and he wasn't the one to survive lack of sleep without heavy crankiness. Rowena was quite glad when he left to meet a friend of his; this meeting being the reason he was in Japan in the first place.

She decided to go back to the port and visit the art gallery, whose architecture was spectacular; two glass buildings joined together by a high-rise glass bridge spanning over a canal. She went through all exhibition areas and ended up on the roof garden overlooking the harbour, regretting that she had left her camera at her hotel room. A bird of prey – which kind she wasn't entirely sure of – sat on the railing not far from her and watched her, not scared of her at all. She smiled at it with fascinated eyes, and couldn't resist in the end but take a photo of the bird with her mobile phone.

When she left the gallery, she hopped on a tram and went to a place she actually dreaded to see, but knew she'd be angry at herself later if she didn't go.

She got off near a kitch of a shopping centre and walked some distance uphill before the bulk of the Atomic Bomb Museum appeared in front of her. She never saw the "first hand" damage, of course, although remnants were still very visible at the time she first visited Nagasaki, but she dreaded all the evidence of the blast gathered under one roof to stand witness to what human beings were capable of doing to each other.

The museum was actually underground; most of it, and you accessed it by a spiral inclined plane, with a chain of a thousand cranes, symbols of peace, hung along the wall as you descended to the halls below.

It didn't touch her. She thought she'd be devastated, that her heart would break for the victims, that she'd be so horrified and shocked she'd have to run away and cry the whole night about it. Nothing like that happened. The displays were certainly appalling, but she viewed them as something that happened and nothing could undo it. It was a matter of the past, and the city around her lived and the world actually was a better place now. Not good by a long shot, but better than it was in the olden days that she could remember as her childhood.

She wondered how people saw her. She did know: they had no idea she was different than other young women around here, and not just for her blond hair and green eyes, but that she was as much witness to the war as the devastated façade of the original Urakami cathedral exhibited inside these walls. She read the accounts of the people who survived the explosion and felt them to be kindred souls somehow, and was glad she broke free of the prison called time.

Outside there was a chilly and sunny winter afternoon and she suddenly came to terms with the fact that Nik had actually kept his promise and she was alive in a beautiful era of insanely fast-developing technology and peace in the civilised world, for now, at least. He was even here to show everything to her if she wanted. Everything had worked out. Everything but Helen.

She walked through the streets lit by the setting sun till she came to the restored Urakami cathedral. It was late, but the door was still unlocked, although the inside was dark and the weak light from outside had little chance of penetrating the thick blue stained glass of the tiny windows. She never saw the original cathedral, but this was a disappointment. It was a tiny perched-up spider on top of a hill, nothing as monumental as she had imagined whenever she pictured the destruction of Nagasaki in her mind.

On her way back, she climbed on top of another small hill nearby, the site of the Peace Park. There was a huge glamorous statue on the top, with a platform leading to the other side of the hill, where a grand fountain was spraying water in such fashion as to create a naturally adorned vista of the Peace Statue like a miniature of some European Baroque garden.

She found Nik standing there at the edge of the fountain, and it excited no surprise on her part, although she was unsure as to why the world acclaimed scientist would so obviously spend so much of his time following her.

"Where's your company today?" he asked after a while of the two of them standing beside each other in silence.

"He's meeting a friend."

"And you're glad for it."

She nodded.

"Why are you here, Nik?" she asked after another spell of silence.

"I was worried. You seemed to be reeling."

"I was."

"But you're ok now?"

"I'm better. After all, I of all people should know you never get every single thing you want. And I did get enough. I got to live. Somehow never seems enough, and then one comes here and realizes what a great gift it can be. I cheated on life."

"But that's just the beginning, Win. Can't you see what you can have now? What you can be if you set your mind to it?"

"I don't have your life span, Nik. I want to see the new world – I want to go to places I've been to before and I haven't been to yet. That's all I want for now. Accomplishments are not really my priority right now. There are things I need to do first."

"What, like start a family?" he uttered with slight disgust.

She replied with a mildly amused glance, suggesting she was going to believe whatever she would while not allowing him space to interfere.

"So, this guy you're with right now…" he changed the subject.

"You know what, Nik, I don't want to talk about it. I'm gonna go pack my things and just…"

"You're ill, Rowena. I wonder how you can run about in this cold anyhow."

"I want to see everything before I have to go," she shrugged.

"You know what, let me get your things for you, you'll stay with me and get better, ok?"

"I'm flying back to Kobe tomorrow."

"Ok, then I'll come too if you like. But let me take care of you, Win. You need it."

"Ok," she shrugged again, the idea of staying in a comfortable hotel room with Nik to nurse her becoming more appealing by the minute.


End file.
